As/Us is a space to showcase the creative literary expressions and scholarly work of both emerging and established women writers from around the world. It aims to publish works by underrepresented writers particularly Indigenous women and women of color in the genres of poetry, spokenword, creative nonfiction, fiction, academic essays, and more.

Interview by Lori Barrett

How long did it take between the moment you thought about starting a literary journal and the launch of As/Us?

It all happened very quickly. We came up with the idea and within a couple of months we had our call for submissions out and we were reviewing submissions.

What have been the biggest surprises in starting and editing a literary journal?

We always knew that creating a community through the magazine was important to us but we didn’t know what that would look like or how it would work. We have had a lot of support from contributors, the communities we are both a part of and other literary journals.

We still get surprised with how excited people are when they find out we are publishing them. It really makes us feel validated in that we’ve created a space where these voices are showcased in a quality magazine. We really enjoy seeing our contributors continue to accomplish amazing things in the writing world. We feel thankful to have been a part of their writing careers. Above all, the best part about doing this kind of work is how continually satisfying it is to publish the work of writers we admire.

Do you rely on submissions, or do you solicit work?

We rely both general submissions and solicited work. For our first issues we had to rely more on solicitations because we were new. We still do solicit.

How do you search for writers to solicit?

We might solicit from writers in our networks or from writers whose work we have come across and admire. We have built up a great community of past contributors and supporters who help us by sharing our calls for submissions.

Do you edit each issue, or do you have guest editors?

We alternate between us editing it and having guest editors. Sometimes it comes down to people approaching us about collaborations or themed issues and we go from there and figure out how to make it work. Our last issue’s theme was Decolonial Love, but it also featured writing from incarcerated writers which was curated from past contributor Tria Andrews and the founders of the organization Just Write. Our next themed issue will be guest edited and will focus on the theme of women of color in academia.

What are the submissions like? Is there something you see frequently or something you’d like to see more of?

We get a range of submissions. Since we are online and in print we get excited when something is submitted to us that takes advantage of the online medium, such as a video poem or a dance submission. At the same time we tend to be drawn to work that has guts and a soul, something that makes us wish we would have written it or inspires us as writers and as people.

We love when we have an opportunity to acknowledge and showcase young voices.

You recently participated in the Dear Native Youth Poetry contest (with Survival of the First Voices). Did you get a lot of submissions?

We did fairly well for a first time contest and one that is focused on youth. We have decided to feature one poem from every participant who entered the contest. As we read the submissions we decided that it was important to us to acknowledge all of the participants for putting a very personal part of themselves on the page for us. We want share with our readers what Native youth care about and what is important in their lives. We love when we have an opportunity to acknowledge and showcase young voices.

Did you find big differences in the submissions of teens versus adults?

The youth voices felt very free and uninhibited. As writers we often learn to censor the brave and raw aspect of our work the older we get. Maybe this is a result of the workshop experience. There definitely was a difference. The adult writers had more seasoned and intentional craft which complemented the content. We think there is a place for both types of writing and that we can all learn from each other.

Will you do it again?

We would do it definitely do it again. This is an example of one of those times where everything seemed to fall into place: Survival of the First Voices came to As/Us with an idea and we decided to collaborate. We did our best to publicize the call for submissions. Somehow the Idyllwild Arts Summer Program heard about the contest and wants to sponsor the winners so they can attend their 2016 Summer Program. We were also grateful to have some volunteer readers who were past contributors and supporters. The final judge Gyasi Ross is also someone who is interested in supporting the magazine’s mission.

As/Us has been used in college courses. Have you had feedback from the professors or students who have studied the journal?

Yes! Several colleges in Colorado and New Mexico have used As/Us in their courses. There are probably others as well, but these schools (University of New Mexico, Denver University, North Seattle, to name a few) reached out to us about using the journal in their classes. The feedback has been that students loved using the journal since it covers multiple genres. One class even created an anthology inspired by As/Us as their final project.

Do you receive many scholarly submissions, and if so, on what subjects?

We don’t receive many scholarly submissions, but we are open to them especially if they fit into the concerns and themes that are often present in the work of our contributors.